Kansas City songsmith ANDREW MORGAN sounds like he's already well on the way to establishing himself as a performer to be reckoned with. Visually, he boasts a fleeting resemblance to Big Star's Chris Bell, while the studio time for his debut album 'Misadventures In Radiology' was generously donated by the late, lamented Elliott Smith.
'As Long as we are Together' is culled from Morgan's second album 'Please Kid, Remember' and it suggests he really is good enough to be viewed in such exalted company as Messrs. Bell and Smith. Having said that, this reviewer certainly hopes he'll stick around a lot longer in this vale of tears than those two much-missed cult favourites.
'As Long as we are Together' is a delight. It's gentle, romantic and wintry, with lush, string-kissed orchestration and sympathetic, pattering drums couching Morgan's whispered, expectant vocals. Although it's not a seasonal song as such, there's more than a touch of Christmas about it (the twinkly sound recalls John Cale's wondrous 'Ship of Fools' to these ears) and when the sleigh bells kick in, you can almost feel your breath billowing in the snow-filled air.
With six further tracks (and a brief reprise of the title track), 'As Long as we are Together' is a generous EP and Morgan's quality control standards remain impressively high throughout. 'Always in Dreams' is a graceful, waltz-time thing which favourably recalls Morgan's mentor Elliott Smith circa the gorgeous 'XO', while the dramatic 'Minji Lee' is resplendant with 'Strawberry Fields'-style mellotron and a complex vocal arrangement and the stately 'A Matter of Months' initially recalls XTC at their most pastoral (circa 'Apple Venus' perhaps) although the arrangement morphs into something much more widescreen and urgent before it climaxes.
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All of these are beautifully-crafted songs which come with that indefinable tang of timelessness. This writer had previously only really heard of Andrew Morgan in dispatches, but 'As Long as we are Together' and its' attendant glories suggest immersion in both of their creator's albums are going to prove the perfect way to help while away those long, dark winter nights.
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